They Could Not Tell Me Who Should Be My Lord
Edwin Muir 1887 (Orkney) – 1959 (Cambridge)
They could not tell me who should be my lord,
But I could read from every word they said
The common thought: Perhaps that lord was dead,
And only a story now and a wandering word.
How could I follow a word or serve a fable,
They asked me. `Here are lords a-plenty. Take
Service with one, if only for your sake,
Yet better be your own master if you're able.'
I would rather scour the roads, a masterless dog,
Than take such service, be a public fool,
Obstreperous or tongue-tied, a good rogue,
Than be with those, the clever and the dull,
Who say that lord is dead; when I hear
Daily his dying whisper in my ear.
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 36 sec read
- 102 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | ABBCDEEDFGHDII |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 619 |
Words | 122 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 14 |
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"They Could Not Tell Me Who Should Be My Lord" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 19 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/10131/they-could-not-tell-me-who-should-be-my-lord>.
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